Green Process for Production of Biosurfactants or Biopolymers through Waste Oil Utilization

Abstract

The proposed patent describes a commercially viable process for production of biosurfactants and biopolymers by employing environmentally safe utilization of waste oil after recycling or during the early stage recycling. The process described eliminates use of strong solvents or acids during the process as has been suggested by other inventors. The entire process is achieved without addition of any nutrients during fermentation and there will not be any waste produced for disposal. The end products are natural and biodegradable and have many useful industrial and commercial applications. The invention is one of the many application of patented biodispersion technology (U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,888). The invention describes production of biosurfactant from both marine water and fresh water as a source for fermentation. Three byproducts are produced during the process namely 1. Oil for recycling/blending, 2. Process water for production of biosurfactants and 3. Bacterial biomass for use as nutritive supplement or source of protein and amino acids. A yield of 0.05% was recorded in the studies.

1 - 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . An environment-friendly green process for the production of natural and biodegradable products by utilization of waste oils through using (you are limiting yourself) bioremediation products developed on the basis of patented biodispersion process comprising of following steps:
 i) industrial fermentation of bioremediation product, oil and water in a suitable container;   ii) the said mixture is agitated using fixed impellers or any other method of agitation in suitable container for a fixed period of time;   iii) the mixture is agitated under constant temperature conditions 32 C for optimum yield (vague term)   iii) separation of oil, processed water and biomass by centrifugation;   iv) drying of processed water isolate biosurfactant as a crystalline residue; and   v) purification of active ingredient based on molecular weight (be specific).   vi) Reutilization of useful fractions of separated oil where possible particularly for dense oils like No. 6 oil as some oils are known to become thinner due to activities of bacteria in the bioremediation product as seen in our field studies.   vii) A nutritional supplement comprising protein isolated from the biomass produced during the industrial fermentation.   
     
     
         23 . The process as in  claim 22  wherein fermentation is carried out using waste oil selected from a group consisting of mixture of oils remaining after recycling of waste oil, waste oil from refinery waste, sludge remaining after recycling oil, waste remaining in the bulk storage tanks of diesel, No. 2 fuel oil, aviation fuel, No. 6 Bunker fuel, transformer oil, Naval Special Fuel Oil (NSFO), biodiesel, ships bilge oil, oil collected after a spill and oil from other hydrocarbon sources and natural vegetable oils. 
     
     
         24 . The process as in  claim 22  wherein the natural and biodegradation products are identified as biosurfactant, biopolymer and biomass. 
     
     
         25 . The process in  claim 22  wherein the industrial fermentation is initiated (this terminology should be part of summary of invention) by commercially available products like SpiliRemed (Industrial), VaporRemed®, SpillRemed (Marine)® and any other commercially available product (this is indefinite) developed on the basis of patented biodispersion process. 
     
     
         26 . The seed for the fermentation in  claim 25 , wherein new bioremediation product is developed from a group of microbes consisting of aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria, genetically modified aerobic bacteria, genetically modified anaerobic bacteria, yeast, fungi and mixture thereof. 
     
     
         27 . The process as in  claim 22  wherein the container is selected from commercially available chemical reaction vessels, a stainless steel fermenter, a plastic fermenter, epoxy-coated stainless steel fermenter, or container of other suitable inert non corrosive material in various sizes from 10 gallons to 1000 gallons fitted with an agitator and mixer and with pressured air, oxygen or nitrogen supply. 
     
     
         28 . A process utilizing waste oils for the production of natural and biodegradable products in  claim 22  wherein the water used is chlorine free spring water and chlorine free sea water. 
     
     
         29 . A industrial fermentation (define it in the summary of invention) as in  claim 22  wherein the ratio of amounts of waste oil to the seed is 1:1 volume/volume, preferably 5:1 volume/volume and most preferably 10:1 volume/volume. 
     
     
         30 . A industrial fermentation process as in  claim 22  wherein the ratios of amounts of water to waste oil is 50:50 volume/volume, 70:30 volume/volume, preferably 80:20 volume/volume and most preferably 90:10 volume/volume. 
     
     
         31 . The process as in  claim 26  wherein the aerobic? bacteria selected from the group consisting of.  Pseudomonas, Phenylobacterium, Stenotrophomonas, Gluconobacter, Agrobacterium, Vibrio, Acinetobacter, Micrococcus , or other naturally available oil degrading bacteria. 
     
     
         32 . The bacteria as in  claim 31 , wherein said species or strain of bacteria is  Pseudomonas pseudoalkaligenes, Phenylobacterium immobile, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Gluconobacter cerinus, Agrobacterium radiobacter  or  Pseudomonas alcaligenes. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Citrobacter freundii , other indigenously available species and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         33 . A microbial fermentation process as in  claim 22  wherein the centrifugation is achieved using tubular centrifuge, high speed refrigerated centrifuge or any separation mechanism to separate oil from water and collect bacterial biomass as a pellet or a paste. (indefinite terminology). 
     
     
         34 . A microbial fermentation process as in  claim 34  wherein process water is evaporated to dryness using evaporator vessels under vacuum to collect the dried crystalline powder of biosurfactant. 
     
     
         35 . A process as in  claim 22  wherein the active products are purified using a process from the group consisting of. dialysis, size exclusion chromatography, acid or alkali hydrolysis or any other available methods for isolation and purification (it is not in the summary of invention). 
     
     
         36 . The biomass in  claim 22  (something is missing here) obtained after centrifugation of fermentation medium is used after drying for feed, sonication of cells to break cell walls and collect the cell material; and for manufacturing of supplements from a group of biscuits, cookies, high protein liquid nutrient diets. 
     
     
         37 . The biomass in  claim 37  is used for poultry feed or animal feed after drying (can we really claim it? It can have many applications which can be described in the specifications).